Adding Custom Lookups to the Lookup Tool in Helpdesk

Have you ever created a custom lookup, following the Altiris product documentation, only to have to touch SQL to make future modifications to the lookup? This article will show you the simple steps needed to add your custom created lookup to the lookup admin tool within the Altiris Helpdesk flyout menu.

Begin by taking a backup of your Altiris_Incidents database in case you run into any difficulties.

After you've backed up your database, follow the Altiris product guide to create your custom lookup. Once your initial lookup is complete, go into SQL. Expand the Altiris_Incidents database, and then expand tables. Next look for the table dbo.lookup_info. This is the table that we will be working with.

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At this point, you can write a query or you can add a new line directly to the table. For the sake of speed in writing this document, I will just open the table and add directly to it.

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Click in the last line that is populated with all NULLS.

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I am breaking this up into several sections so that you can see everything that needs to be added. Basically, you will copy the formatting of the items above, leaving the lookup_info_guid blank. The guid will create itself when we finish entering the information.

Begin by assigning an id number under the lookup_info_id column. Next, skip the guid and go to enter the lookup_info_display_name - do this by following the format below by replacing the word custom with your lookup's name. The value of this will be defined later in a string. Now, specify the lookup_info_values_source - this will be actual lookup table.

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Our next step is to specify the lookup_info_table_name. Assuming you placed your lookup in the workitem table, this will be workitem. Next enter the lookup_info_field_name and column name of your lookup as it appears in the workitem table. Next set the lookup_info_view_format by once again following the format of the previous entries. Finally, set the status and the lookup_info_is_ordered column to 0.

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Once you are done, click to a new line and your guid will be generated.

Now that we've done the necessary work in the Altiris_Incidents database, close SQL. Go to your custom.config file and add the following string. Again, replace custom with your own values.

<strings>
	<string id="sid_workitem_custom_lookup_value">Custom</string>
</strings>

Save your custom.config file, close it, and restart IIS.

Now go to the admin flyout menu and select lookups.

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You will now notice your lookup field here. You can now edit lookups, change the ordinal value, set active status, etc. just as you would with any other lookup.

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We are done. The information that just entered is then called by the LookupList.ascx template. From this template, which allow us to manage the lookup various lookup lists.